Pagan Harvest's first album is a unique sweep through Europe's ancient soul calling on elements of the Progressive rock, folk and classical music. It's as if the spirits of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd turning up in "Wuthering Heights" or William Shakespeare. Magic, murder and the spirit of a fox sung by a poet from the top of a mountain !

The 6 songs could be split into 'ancient' and 'modern'. The former explore things we don't really understand, but perhaps we once did. ‘The Hawthorn' is a dream about strong and worthy characters from English history and a yearning for King Arthur's return. The spirit of Syd Barrett is evoked in 'Queen of the River' which paints daybreak as a mythical goddess bringing light and warmth to the countryside. The longest song on the album is 'Rebecca Falls' where a missing girl, a detective and a shadowy figure are irresistibly drawn into a ghostly ritual. The tension builds, you think you see something out of the corner of your eye, but you're not quite sure. It’s an eerie tale of something beyond your comprehension. Strings (or could that be a mellotron?), crisp classical guitar and insistent bass set up Bickley's vocal beautifully.

The 3 'modern' songs are reflections from more recent times. 'Fight the Devil' is telling us it's tough out there, the character in 'Damascus' finds no spiritual enlightenment on that famous road, simply the realisation that in 21st Century Syria nothing ever changes. 'Harrow Road' is a light hearted song that interweaves some of Shakespeare's romantic mythical characters into colourful modern day North West London.

...while the band themselves describe their sonic output as “psychedelic” (which it most definitely is), there is a lot, lot more that’s going on upon this astounding record. To me, it is highly reminiscent of much of the 90’s Seattle Grunge Rock movement and brings to mind the music of such bands as Alice In Chains or Soundgarden and that region’s darker, emotionally layered style of hallucinatory-helmed heralds of audible absolutes. At the same time there’s plenty of Progressive Rock and Psychedelia present on The Flood to keep things highly interesting and enjoyable throughout the entire length of this record.

Based on the typical Progressive Rock and Jazz Rock sounds from the mid-seventies, their musical reference range recreates different influences, such as Classical Music and traditional South American rhythms, as well as strokes of Tango and Avant Prog.

First chapter of a trilogy of concept albums, which tells the story of a personal journey. Loosely based on the story of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”, the heroin retraces the events of her life thanks to the use of two mirrors: the mirror of the soul and the mirror of real things. This trip will take Alice to identify herself as a different person from the one she has always believed she was, leaving the door open to an uncertain but intense future. A continuous musical journey with recurring themes and various changes of style and moods, enhanced by several external collaborations.

The musical concept is influenced by and deals abstractedly with terms such as time, truth, self and ego, culture, openness to otherness and tradition. Beyond everything, though, music itself comes first.

Overall, however, this album can be fittingly described as a potent consolidation of the distinctive sounds that Baroness, sometimes exclusively, explored on both sides of their 2012 double disc, condensed to their most immediate forms. 'Chlorine & Wine', arguably the strongest track on the anthemic Purple, is a rousing rock song that naturally ebbs and flows between affecting, almost lullaby laments and Queen-esque grandstanding. Its concise and creative songwriting is indicative of Baroness's evolution to date, and Baizley's determined vocals backed by heartening gang chants makes for another passionate highpoint on an album with very few faults.

The album is loosely based on Arthur Machen's gothic horror story written in 1895.
Combining synthesiser and guitar the band has created an individual sound which tilts a respectful cap to their heroes from progressive rock's golden age.

When PJ started writing and recording his own music, he decided to take on the last name Bostic to honor the wishes of his late grandfather Paul Bostic. Influenced by bands like Rush, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree and King's X he has released 3 solo efforts, that have earned a place among rockers and progressive rockers alike. Never catering to mainstream pressure, PJ writes from his heart with passion, integrity and musical excellence. His songs range from short hard hitting catchy grooves in odd time to longer epic dreamscapes that accompany lyrics inspired by deep thought and personal experience.

Total time 61:23Line-up:
Hisao: composing, all instruments, vocals
Taiki: all concepts, ambient sounds, voice
Mari and EDNA : English and Portuguese reading

Description/Reviews:

The 5th album of Japanese Progressive Rock Unit. This album is a total concept album of 16 tracks 62 minutes long, It takes the listeners to a great and profound journey from dark side struggling to the light side filled with hopes and strength. Being based on a historical fact, it's trying to consider the serious matters of this world today. The sound's first impression may be symphonic one influenced by British Prog-rocks, but there contained various elements of music and the traditional Japanese lyricism could be found in the English lyrics expressing deep emotions using nature-descriptions.

Andres approaches us with Boundless in much the same way he did with Entities.
Both albums are rife with eternally catchy riffs, heartbeat-raising
rhythmic passages, alluring lead work—all in all, very similar in
composition. However, there is something about Boundless that
makes its existence more “organic.” Perhaps it’s the new,
natural-sounding production style, with a less compressed, mechanical
sound than encompassed Entities. Perhaps Andres’ endeavor to go it alone left his creative grasp unhampered by outside input. That isn’t to say that Entities wasn’t mostly
Andres’ writing, but when working with other musicians, their
personalities are bound to shine through with their contributions.

A special album with a variety of (male and female) singers. They all got one or more songs and made the lyrics and vocals on the main theme of the album: ‘Crossing Over’. The result is a delicious mix of personalities, stories and emotions: a treat for any symfo- and prog rock enthusiast.

The album “When Darkness Falls” is a concept album or metal opera if you
prefer. With many supporting players and vocalists and a grand concept,
it does sound and feel like Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Kamelot or
Avantasia.... Musically, it is a very rich sounding album which combines elements of
prog metal, power metal and mostly symphonic metal.

The overall sound is based on classical instrumental jazz-rock setting, while music represents a mixture of influences of various musical and stylistic genres. It is a consequence of a wide musical interest of author and his past experience in performing in different ensembles and diverse genres.